LOS ANGELESJet Set Radio, the much-beloved Dreamcast-era franchise that was seemingly lost when Sega pulled out of the home video game console business, is back to delight contemporary gamers with its unique blend of skating, bombing, and hip hop in a dazzling HD update.

Jet Set Radio, which is due to hit PC, PSN, XBLA, and PS Vita this summer beautifully recreates the original dreamcast game — and surpasses it in some areas.

Sega's given Jet Set Radio HD the 16:9, high-definition treatment, which looked gorgeous on the PS Vita's 5-inch OLED display. It's truly a testament to the original game's stylized, cel-shaded graphics; each skater and environment has a unique and even modern feel despite being a decade old. It looks damn fine.

Jet Set Radio HD, in terms of gameplay, is just as fun as it was 10 years ago. You control your skater with the PS Vita's directional pad, and use the R shoulder button to initiate a speed boost (perfect for building up a good head of steam and leaping onto rails for monster grinds). Tagging walls and enemies is actually more intuitive than the original; holding the L button locks you into position in front of a designated graf area, and then you motion the controls that are displayed on the screen. Jet Set Radio HD's control scheme, mainly due to the PS Vita's size and shape, feels much better than the original version, which suffered a bit due to the Dreamcast brick of a controller.

Music is a huge part of the Jet Set Radio experience, and I'm happy to say that Sega did an excellent job in recreating the hip hop/funk/house/rock soundtrack. Fans were concerned that Sega wouldn't be able to cull together much of the in-game licensed music; the game has about 80 percent of the original music, according to a Sega representative. And yes, Rob Zombie's "Dragula" is back to haunt video gaming once again for better or for worse.

If you've been cautious about this update, don't fear. Jet Grind Radio is just as fun and quirky as ever and is a game that should be in every PS Vita's collection when it hits the virtual shelves.

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.
When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys...
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